The figures appearing beside the battle banner were not the savage, grotesque Dragonkin follower chieftains.
They were several well-proportioned half-dragons with calm expressions.
They carried no weapons, merely standing there in silence and looking down from above at the brutal, bizarre battlefield below.
They were all reinforcements Zong Shen had brought over from Little Blackie and the Flame Lord.
The cries of battle, the whistle of crossbow bolts, and the explosions of magic seemed to have nothing to do with them.
There was neither Frenzy nor fear in their eyes.
Only an indifferent calm, as though they were watching a play that had nothing to do with them.
These follower leaders had all received Zong Shen's guidance and enhancements.
This abnormal sight was immediately noticed by the experienced Dragonkin officers on the front line.
"Look up there!"
He raised a sharp warning, and the surrounding soldiers instinctively looked up.
The leading half-dragon slowly raised one hand and made a strange gesture.
It did not look like spellcasting, nor was it a command.
It was more like some kind of signal.
Then, before Avalon's soldiers could react any further, the figures all took a step back and vanished behind the shadows of the battlement crenellations.
As if they had appeared solely to perform that simple action.
A more unsettling sense of unease arose.
It was like an icy venomous snake, Entangling itself around the heart of every frontline commander.
The enemy's actions had completely surpassed their understanding of a cornered beast's final struggle or desperate death throes.
"It's a trick!"
"Contract the defensive formation!"
"Heavy Crossbowmen, fire freely at the top of the walls!"
The frontline commander made his decision without hesitation. Even he failed to notice the tension in his own shouted orders.
However, the anticipated follow-up strike never came.